Thijssen fury after abandoned match

Brisbane Roar coach Frans Thijssen has hit out at the Hyundai A-League’s policy of allowing the results of matches to stand if they are abandoned in the second half.

Thijssen was speaking after Wellington Phoenix were awarded all three points due to the fact they were leading 2-1 against the Roar when the match between the sides at Suncorp Stadium was called off when the pitch became unplayable because of heavy rain.

According to rule 22.22 in the A-League regulations, if a match is abandoned before the end of the first half, it must be replayed, but if it is called off during the second half, the result at the time becomes the final result.

The rule has been in place throughout the 10 years of the A-League’s existence, but Dutchman Thijssen found it perplexing when he discovered his team would not have the chance to finish the game at a later date.

“Of course I’m disappointed because this is a crazy end,” he said.

“If you always worked in Europe and you see this you think, ‘what is happening here?’

“(I’ve) never seen this, because the choice is replay if it happens in the first half, they’re the normal rules, and if it happens in the second half you have to play the second half again.

“We all want an honest competition and Adelaide and Perth, they’re not happy with this because they are in a competition to be the champions.

“And we’re in a competition to be in the playoffs, so of course it’s disappointing.

“When we had a free kick in a dangerous position where we could score, they just call off the game and they give three points to one team and no points to the other team, that’s not an honest competition.”

Thijssen also revealed key forward Henrique may not appear again this season for the Roar due to persistent injury. The Brazilian has been struggling with a knee problem for some time.

The manager also found complaint in the policy of playing A-League rounds concurrently with Socceroos fixtures.

“Henrique is not good,” he said.

“So we have to think about the last part of the season to do it without Henrique, he’s injured.

“Then you lose another couple of players with the national team, that’s another thing, they planned this game, this week, when the national team is playing, so that’s another strange thing.

“That’s another thing, when you think about an honest competition, you don’t plan it this week, when the national team is playing, because you know the Brisbane Roar lose four players who are not in the team.

“At the moment it looks like he’ll be out for a longer time and we’ll have to do it without him.”

"FFA emphatically rejects the assertion made by the Brisbane Roar coach," said an FFA spokesperson. "It's wrong and unfair to question the integrity of the officials in these circumstances.
"The referee, the assistant referees and the match commissioner followed the regulations meticulously and made a decision in the best interests of the Hyundai A-League and the welfare of players involved in the match."